Test Kitchen: Lemon Blueberry Crumble Bars

These sweet-tart crumble bars have a buttery short crust with just the perfect little salty pop. Bake up batch and steep a cup of our Blues Fest Tea, and you’ll definitely be singing the blues—in a good way! Hot or iced, this tea, bursting with Louisiana Blueberries, is pure refreshment.  

Yield: 4–6 servings

Ingredients

For the Short Crust and Crumble:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp Lemon Cyprus Flake Salt
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 large egg, beaten

For the Blueberry Filling:

• ½ cup Lemon Sugar
• Juice of one lemon
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375° degrees.
2. Place the sugar, baking powder, flour, Cyprus Flake Salt and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add in half of the butter chunks and the egg. Pulse to combine. Add in the remaining butter and pulse until a ball of dough comes together. Divide in half and set aside.
3. In a bowl, combine the Lemon Sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch and blueberries. Allow to sit for 15 minutes. 
4. Grease a 9X13 pan. Press ½ of the short crust into the bottom of the pan. Pour the blueberry filling over the crust. Crumble the remaining short crust over the filling. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is lightly brown. Cool completely before cutting—we found it easiest to cut them after they were chilled.

To make a pitcher of iced Blues Fest Tea: Create a tea concentrate by steeping 1 ounce Blues Fest Tea in 1 cup near boiling water for 4 minutes—boiling water will scorch the leaves and create bitterness. Remove the leaves and pour the tea concentrate into a 2-quart pitcher. Fill the pitcher with ice and water and serve.

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